A Chinese man whose threat to commit suicide held up traffic on a busy bridge for five hours was shoved off the structure by a furious motorist.

Lian Jiansheng, 66, a retired soldier, broke through a police cordon and reached out to shake the hand of the would-be jumper, Chen Fuchao, before pushing him off the bridge.

"I pushed him off because jumpers like Chen are very selfish. Their action violates a lot of public interests," Mr Lai was quoted as saying by the China Daily newspaper.

He added: "They do not really dare to kill themselves. Instead, they just want to raise the relevant government authorities' attention to their appeals."

Chen fell only 10 yards on to a partially inflated emergency air cushion and was treated in hospital with wrist and back injuries. Mr Lian was detained by police.

Chen, who said he had debts of two million yuan (£200,000) because of his involvement in a failed building project, was at least the twelfth person since early April to threaten suicide at the same spot, the Haizhu bridge in Guangzhou.

But none have jumped and - until Mr Lian gave Chen a helping hand - none have been pushed.